As a young Girl Scout at camp, my friends and I learned a bunch of folksongs, among them "Oh My Darlin' Clementine!" which we belted out with gusto. Now some decades later, I thought it would be fun to connect this old favorite with a work of historical fiction: thus this novel: The Waiting Light: Clementine's Story
This song's original music and lyrics are usually credited to Percy Montross, circa 1880. Since then, Clementine has become a popular song with countless different stanzas that children sing in school, Scouts, and around summer campfires.
Most folklore and modern urban legends often have some basis in truth. In this vein, The Waiting Light follows themes from the lyrics. I pretended the song was a legend spawned from Clementine's life, so using clues from the verses, I worked backwards: her father was a "forty-niner" and they lived "in a canyon" by a river. She cared about animals ("drove she ducklings to the water ev'ry morning just at nine"), but she stumbled from a bridge ("hit her foot against a splinter") and fell into "the foaming brine." As for the herring boxes, they're mentioned in the novel, but not as the exaggerated image that ends up in the song (size-nine sandals).
The singer appears to be a grieving beau: "I kissed her little sister, forgot my Clementine," is a curious ending which inspired my imagination. Who were these people, what happened, and why? So in my story I gave Clementine a father, a sweetheart and a little sister, and included them in the mystery.
I hope you enjoy this new release!
Hello reading friends!
I'm happy to announce the re-release of one of my historical adventures, The Waiting Light: Clementine's Story. Originally published under the title My Darlin' Clementine, it won the Idaho choice for the 2010 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Library of Congress.
When the rights reverted back to me, I updated the Author Note and tweaked the title. Then I refreshed the cover with Cody Rutty's photo of New Meadows, Idaho, which he took looking out from his studio. I think it's beautiful and reflects the novel's themes of hope, unconditional love, and redemption.
For ages 10 up, the story tells of sixteen-year-old Clementine Kidd, who dreams of becoming a doctor. Her hopes are complicated however, by the lawlessness of a mining town in 1866 Idaho Territory, prejudice against the Chinese, and the affections of handsome Boone Reno. When tragedy strikes, a chain of desperate events is unleashed. To save her family and follow her dreams, Clementine must take an unthinkable risk.
I hope you like this new edition, available in paperback and as an e-book. It's one of a trilogy set in mining camps of the American West. Next time I'll tell you about the re-release of Orphan Runaways: The Perilous Escape to Bodie ... stay tuned!
